Deutsche Presse-Agentur
April 24, 2005, Sunday
16:55:16 Central European Time
NEWS FEATURE: Armenians in Lebanon mark anniversary of killings
Anjar, Lebanon
Armenians living in eastern Lebanon commemorated the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian massacre Sunday, while welcoming a happier event, the
expected pullout of the last remaining Syrian intelligence units in
the country.
The eastern town of Anjar, where some 2,600 Armenians live, has
served as the Syrian Intelligence Unit’s Lebanese headquarters since
the first Syrian soldiers arrived in 1976.
Famous for its Moslem Ummayed historic ruins and its scenery, people
began to stay away from Anjar due to the Syrians’ presence.
Today, despite the anniversary of the massacre of up to 1.5 million
ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, the people of Anjar
appear hopeful and happy.
News travels fast across Lebanon and the Armenians in Anjar have
heard that the Syrians are due to complete their withdrawal from
Lebanon “by the end of the day”.
Lebanese military sources confirmed to Deutsche Presse Agentur, dpa
that most of the intelligence units have already left the
headquarters in Anjar, with only the head of the Syrian intelligence
units general Rustom Ghazali and around ten soldiers remaining, but
“they will be leaving Lebanon for good after the official ceremony on
April 26”, the sources said.
Lebanese pro-Syrian loyalists and officials as well as military
figures will bid an official farewell to the last remaining Syrian
soldiers.
Syria has pledged to the United Nations to withdraw all its troops
from Lebanon by April 30. Following the assassination of former prime
minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, Lebanon’s anti-Syrian
opposition and the international community intensified pressure on
Syria to withdraw.
The opposition has blamed the Lebanese pro-Syrian regime and their
backers in Damascus for Hariri’s murder.
Anjar which was famous for its restaurants near the waterfalls and it
fresh spring trout is already wiping out any reminder of the Syrian
presence.
“We want Anjar to be famous again for its historical ruins and good
Armenian-Lebanese cuisine…we do not want our town to be a town of
ghosts where people stayed away from because of the Syrian
presence…we want tourists and investors to come here,” Sebouh
Sekayan, Anjar’s Armenian mayor, told dpa.
The area near the waterfalls where most of the town’s restaurants are
located was busy Sunday, not with customers, but with construction
workers refurbishing in the hope of attracting large numbers of
tourists and Lebanese back to the town.
“We have been hired by the owner of Casino of Anjar to start working
on the outside gardens of the casino to prepare it for a hopeful
touristic season,” a worker at the site told dpa.
In this all-Armenian village in eastern Lebanon, residents who live
amid apple orchards, vineyards and Islamic ruins, were still cautious
about speaking to journalists.
“We are still afraid, few (Syrians) are still here and they will be
leaving for good in few days, today we are commemorating a massacre
which took the lives of our ancestors, we do not want any harm to
happen to our children,” an elderly Armenian lady said.
Holding white roses and white candles the old woman walked towards
the nearby church to remember those who died in the massacre.
The Armenians in Anjar are among the largest Armenian community in
Lebanon. They are the descendents of the survivors of the 1915-1917
massacre and are now leading a global campaign to declare the mass
killing a genocide.
>From 250,00 at the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, during which
thousands emigrated, only 120,000 Armenians now remain in Lebanon,
according to religious figures in the community.
Most of Lebanon’s Armenians hail from the region of Cilicia, today in
Turkey, and not in the present-day state of Armenia.
Armenians in Lebanon have gained the respect of all Lebanese, because
they proved to be hard workers, good businessmen, jewellers,
musicians, artists and good craftsmen.
They also gained respect because they stayed neutral during the
1975-1990 civil war in Lebanon.
The community is today represented by a government minister, six MPs
and three main political parties. dpa wh sr